1. Early evidence of effectiveness of digital contact tracing for SARS-CoV-2 in Switzerland
- Author
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Theresa Stadler, Nicola Low, Cédric Moullet, Tala Ballouz, Effy Vayena, Daniele Antonioli, Marcel Salathé, Viktor von Wyl, Edouard Bugnon, Mathias Payer, Julien Riou, Christian L. Althaus, Sang-Il Kim, Carmela Troncoso, Nanina Anderegg, Wouter Lueks, Srdjan Capkun, Dominik Menges, James R. Larus, Dennis Jackson, and University of Zurich
- Subjects
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak ,020205 medical informatics ,Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ,digital contact tracing ,Computer science ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) ,11549 Institute of Implementation Science in Health Care ,610 Medicine & health ,02 engineering and technology ,2700 General Medicine ,exposure notification ,Computer security ,computer.software_genre ,01 natural sciences ,Exposure Notification ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Then test ,360 Social problems & social services ,Pandemic ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Medicine ,Humans ,Digital Contact Tracing ,Digital Proximity Tracing ,COVID-19 ,Exposure notification ,030212 general & internal medicine ,0101 mathematics ,Disease Notification ,business.industry ,SARS-CoV-2 ,010102 general mathematics ,General Medicine ,10060 Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute (EBPI) ,Mobile Applications ,3. Good health ,Software deployment ,digital proximity tracing ,Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus ,Smartphone ,Contact Tracing ,business ,computer ,Wireless Technology ,Contact tracing ,Confidentiality ,Switzerland - Abstract
In the wake of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), contact tracing has become a key element of strategies to control the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2019 (SARS-CoV-2). Given the rapid and intense spread of SARS-CoV-2, digital contact tracing has emerged as a potential complementary tool to support containment and mitigation efforts. Early modelling studies highlighted the potential of digital contact tracing to break transmission chains, and Google and Apple subsequently developed the Exposure Notification (EN) framework, making it available to the vast majority of smartphones. A growing number of governments have launched or announced EN-based contact tracing apps, but their effectiveness remains unknown. Here, we report early findings of the digital contact tracing app deployment in Switzerland. We demonstrate proof-of-principle that digital contact tracing reaches exposed contacts, who then test positive for SARS-CoV-2. This indicates that digital contact tracing is an effective complementary tool for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Continued technical improvement and international compatibility can further increase the efficacy, particularly also across country borders.
- Published
- 2020
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